Saltese Flats

Lawsuit over river discharges could be boon for wetland

A lawsuit over river discharges threatens the January 2012 startup of a new Spokane County sewage treatment plant, so officials are working on a backup. Plan B, restoration of a wetland with treated wastewater, requires county officials to exercise many of the land-use tools in their kit – and one that doesn’t yet exist. The Spokesman Review reports.

Saltese Flats a potential wetlands location, county examines lake bed options

Saltese Flats has attracted the attention of county officials who are looking for ways to maintain the health of the Spokane River in the face of population growth. They think the existing drainage system could be modified to re-create a wetland to store winter and spring runoff and allow it to soak more slowly into the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. The Spokesman Review reports.